Meet Apple’s secret weapon for keeping Wall Street happy

Apple has been shifting their business strategy over the past couple years to push the revenues earned from top customers higher and higher, but if you thought a $999 starting price for the iPhone XS was bold, Apple announced earlier today that they’re selling the freaking stand for the display of their new Mac Pro for $999.

As the price of the stand was announced as an aside towards the end of the WWDC keynote, audible murmurs broke out in the crowd visibly catching the presenter off-guard and causing him to lose his train of thought.

The company’s new Mac Pro starts at $5,999, which is incredibly pricey but ultimately it’s a machine that hit plenty of the high-points that the company’s power users were hoping for. The company’s $4,999 Pro Display XDR also hits some high points though its pricing might raise your eyebrows a bit more, but then you find out that the stand doesn’t even come with the freaking thing, and it’s $999.

Surely something with this kind of price tag can do something other than hold up the display! It can, you can also swivel the display 90 degrees much like you can on your $89 ViewSonic.

Apple sees the professional market as a cash cow with non-existent price sensitivities and as its device sales stall this could be a great market to seize, but, come on, this is a pretty egregious middle-finger to professional customers. You can buy a display that matches the Pro Display XDR on many — but not all — fronts and it will cost less than this stand.